Tottenham academy midfielder signs new three year deal

How about a little good news on a Tuesday morning? Tottenham Hotspur today announced that academy midfielder Harvey White has signed a new contract at the club that will keep him at Spurs through the 2023 season.

We haven’t seen much of White, though his name keeps popping up under the category of Spurs academy players we should keep an eye on. He’s 18 and is the same academy class as Troy Parrott, J’Neill Bennett, Dennis Cirkin, and Kion Etete. All Spurs fans are familiar with Parrott by now, Cirkin has been training with the first team as a potential future homegrown left back, and Bennett is known primarily as the answer to a trivia question — Who was the first goal scorer in the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

White’s been a little under the radar but he’s got his admirers, especially among the academy-watchers on Twitter. He’s a utility player who primarily operates as a deeper-lying defensive midfielder, but who also has played some left back for Spurs’ U18s and U23s. He actually made his senior debut at left back this summer during Spurs’ preseason trip to Asia. However, it’s not at all unusual for academy players to spend significant time outside of their natural positions due to holes in the squad, and from what I’ve gleaned White’s future is probably in central midfield. If we’re looking for an academy player to potentially slot in at left back, that player is probably Dennis Cirkin.

Harvey started and played 90 minutes in all six of the U19s’ matches in the UEFA Youth League this season, scoring a goal (as a DM) during their 9-2 dismantling of Red Star Belgrade. He’s also been a regular in the Premier League 2, with three goals and two assists so far this season.

Youth development is a total crapshoot, so let’s not read too much into a new contract right now. Still, it’s gratifying that Spurs think they have enough of a player in Harvey White to offer him a new three year deal. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be making any Premier League benches anytime soon, but it does mean that there’s a chance that he could develop into a pretty good player down the road.